Freeze-drying Used For Spiced-up Mccormick Line

When shopping for herbs and spices, most cooks look for recipe information, historical background and details such as where the spice or herb is grown, according to a McCormick & Co. consumer survey.

Armed with this information, company employees sat down at their drawing boards and came up with a new expanded line of spices, herbs and seasonings, says Polly Murray, manager of McCormick`s consumer services. Some of the new offerings include whole green peppercorns (freeze-dried), shallots (freeze-dried), whole white peppercorns, juniper berries, ground celery seed, ground coriander seed, cilantro leaves and a choice of Mediterranean or Mexican oregano.

The company`s new gourmet line has a dark green, wrap-around label that includes a color sketch of the herb or spice, a map, cooking information and a freshness seal. The new line replaces the first gourmet line introduced in 1959. Two-ounce bottles will retail from $1.39 to $3. They`re in major supermarkets or wherever McCormick products are sold.

-- -- --

More new products: Attention, batter-freaks. Love chocolate chip cookie dough anytime? (Come on. Be honest.) Thanks to a new product from Pillsbury Co., your pleasure is just a spoonful away. Pillsbury`s new line of refrigerated cookie dough, called Best, is packaged in white opaque plastic rolls and is found in supermarket refrigerated sections. The cookie dough is soft and spoonable and there`s no need to slice the dough. Available in four flavors--chocolate chip, sugar, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin--the dough comes in 20 and 34-ounce sizes, has a shelf life of 120 days and retails from $1.99 to $2.89.

-- -- --

When you look at supermarket deli platters and your appetite shouts

``feed me,`` it might be the works of an artist. How attractive the cheese, meats and vegetables appear has much to with basic design fundamentals regarding color, line, form and texture, says Bill Reynolds, associate director of professional development for Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y. So, if you need to arrange a deli platter for your next football party, Reynolds passes along these tips, reported in Supermarket News: The use of contrasting colors can enhance the appearance of items. Black olives make chicken look whiter; zucchini and pickles make roast beef look rarer; tomatoes and lettuce, oranges and blueberries, cheddar cheese and purple grapes complement each other.